Words similar to "undervalue(verb)" or "underestimate"

Question

I'm looking for a word that means something like "to think of as less important" such as in the following sentence:

Theory is more important than practice; of course, this is not to completely 'word' the value of practice.

So far I found "belittle", "depreciate" and "discredit", but they don't work in the previous sentence. I'm looking for a word that is not too hard as in "vilify". Something that means "think of as less important" or "think of as insignificant".

Answer 1

Theory is more important than practice; of course, this is not to completely understate the value of practice.

Answer 2

I really like downplay there.

down·play ˈdounˌplā/ verb verb: downplay; 3rd person present: downplays; past tense: downplayed; past participle: downplayed; gerund or present participle: downplaying

1.
make (something) appear less important than it really is.
"this report downplays the seriousness of global warming"

Answer 3

There's also discount:

to think of (something) as having little importance or value

or dismiss:

to reject serious consideration of

Answer 4

to lessen:

can also be an alternative to convey the idea of something that may be consider of less of inferior value.

... this is not to completely lessen the value of practice

Answer 5

Theory is more important than practice; of course, this is not to completely { devalue, denigrate, deny,...} the value of practice.

(But really such questions should be closed -- consult a thesaurus.)